Books, books, books! + ManikaManila Tiangge 2014

Fun fact: Blair is a VORACIOUS reader. She'll read anything from pop literature, trashy fiction, to encyclopedias. *u* ♥

If you're attending the upcoming ManikaManila Tiangge this August 23, 2014, I'll be selling BJD scale books there! I'm currently taking preorders until August 10, so head over to my Facebook page and PM me there if you want to start your BJD book collection. :'D

Prices 
• PHP200 for 1/4
• PHP230 for 1/3

**A downpayment of PHP50 is required to process your order.

These are only for pickup during the ManikaManila Tiangge this August 23, 2014. I'll probably be doing a separate order period for orders that will require shipping (domestic (Philippines) and international), so watch out for that.
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 ManikaManila Tiangge 2014

If you're a BJD owner living in Manila, we're inviting you to come to the ManikaManila's biggest event of the year: the Tiangge! We have a crap-ton of things in store for you – artisan booths, raffles, contests, and other fun activities!

We're also holding a Photography contest with the theme, "Dolls just wanna have fun!" Awesome prizes are in store for the winners: a faceup slot by either PropertyoftheUchiha or Rakeru Sensei, Dollheart and rRabit merchandise. Deadline for submissions is on August 10, 2014. You can visit the contest page for more information.

Hope to see you there with your resin lovelies!!! ♥♥♥

Leather & Lace: The ManikaManila Valentine Meet 2014

Last February 22, we held our annual Valentine meet with the theme Leather & Lace. Dolls were required to don either a leather, lace or leather & lace ensemble. This was the first meet I organized as a moderator for ManikaManila, and it makes me really proud and happy to have a great turnout for this meet. ;w;

The meet was held in Tutto Domani, a quaint restaurant specializing in mouth-watering comfort food. The restaurant also doubles as a toy store. They carry designer toys such as Kidrobot and Tokidoki. Aside from the usual dolly admiring, chit-chatting, we held a contest for best costume and we also had a doll version of Never Have I Ever. XD

These folks were by far the most fashionable that day, so they get cover photo status. <3

My big girls Rowan and Blair were the only ones in attendance from me for a change. Here they are with Violet. :3

The Valentine meet wouldn't be complete without my favorite couple, Ninon & Dice! *v*

My fooooood. I ordered a TD Longganisa Sandwich Power Platter. IT'S SO GOOD.

The winners of the costume contest: Mathilde (lace), Vixen (leather) and Malena (leather & lace). All of these were handmade!
Photo courtesy of Nix.

Tutto Domani's staff were very nice and accommodating! We'd probably go back there again for a smaller meet since the place was a bit small for the number of attendees (there were more than thirty of us!). Also, it was gloomy outside, so please bear with the less than stellar photos. ^^

ManikaManila Tiangge 2013 + People's Choice Award!

So after 10 million years, I finally have a proper blog post! XD

Last October 26, ManikaManila held its annual Tiangge (which means "bazaar" in Filipino). It's not quite a convention yet, but we're getting there! This year, the event was sponsored by popular BJD clothing brand, Doll Hearts!

Me and some of my closest friends in the hobby were among the concessionaires. I sold mostly doll accessories like scarves, necklaces, headbands and books. The books were a hit! I managed to make a good profit, which was awesome, but what was even more awesome was that I won People's Choice for the Photography Contest! YAY!

Check out that fabulous logo and website by the equally fabulous Nix!

People's Choice Award, awwyis! Miette and her friends definitely worked their magic. 8D

Me and my booth. It's a littly messy, but homey! I was going for the shabby chic look. ^^

The event was intimate, but it's showing a lot of promise. The Philippine BJD community sure is growing fast. 8D I'm super proud of my community. Great job guys! For more photos of the event, click on ahead.

WARNING: IMAGE HEAVY POST AHEAD!

It's the Little Things

Being a hero doesn’t mean you need to risk your life to save others. A hero is someone who does their best to make the lives of others better, even in the simplest of ways such as giving extra clothes to those who need it.

~*~

Hello! I'm alive... just incredibly busy haha! I long for the day I get to spend my time queuing blog posts. ;_; Anyway, this photo is for ManikaManila's Photo Contest. The theme is "Hero". I think I did well with what I had, but I gotta say, I may need to throw in the towel because entry #4 blew me away. @_@ My fingers are still crossed though!

ManikaManila's Pool Party

Aaahh... nothing's better than having a nice swim to beat the summer heat! This is exactly why Blair, Miette and I attended this year's ManikaManila Pool Party meet. It was held in Constantine Place, BF Resort Village, Las Piñas – the same place where last year's Sun-Kissed Meet was held. This meet was also held to celebrate the launch of MM's official forum! Everyone was required to wear summery clothing like sundresses, bikinis and board shorts.

For a major meet, there weren't that many participants. There were only 20 attendees, which is actually small compared to our usual turnout lol. XD Despite that and the godforsaken humidity, we still had lots of fun! Most of the folks took a dip in the pool, some did photoshoots and some sang at the karaoke machine. :'D

For more photos of the meet, click on the link below!

ManikaManila's Blind Date Valentine Meet

Last Saturday, I attended ManikaManila's annual Valentine Meet, which was held in Balkan Restaurant, Makati. This wasn't our usual kind of meet though, where we just sat, ate and talked with each other. Instead, we got our dolls paired up by drawing lots!

There were ice breaker questions which  our dolls "answered" to get to know their dates better. Of course, things got interesting. As usual, I'll let the photos do the talking. XD

Incomplete grou shot! We took this late in the day so there were several who went home already.

Blair got paired up with her good pal, Christopher.
(This awesome garden table set is from The 5th Atelier)

And Miette got paired up with Windrette (back shot for now, but you'll see her later)!

WARNING: IMAGE HEAVY POST AHEAD!

MonitoManika 2012

Welcome to MonitoManika, ManikaManila's Christmas party, dolly style! The event was held in moderator Trisha's house last December 22, 2012. This year's Monito was the biggest one yet, with over 27 members with 59 dolls in attendance! *u*

Christmas belles Elise, Blair and Leigh. <3

MonitoManika is a play on the Filipino tradition of exchanging gifts (or kris kringle) called monito-monita. Instead of the humans exchanging gifts, it's the dolls who do the gift-giving with each other. Most people gave small trinkets that could be used as props for the dolls, but there were some who gave away gift certificates that we can use to commission these talented members of the community for free! :D

Lots of dollies on the couch! That's only around half of the total number though!

More photos after the jump!

Sudden Dollsplosion!

I have six dolls at home all of a sudden!

L-R: Miette, Kaden, Blair, Nál, Yuna and Kiara

My four new housemates aren't mine though! Apart from Kaden, who's only here to visit, the other three girls are here for face ups (There is also another girl, Cosette, who isn't pictured here since she's completely blank and naked). Yep, I have decided to open free face up slots locally to start my face up portfolio. Aaahh wish me luck! :D

ManikaManila's Halloween Meet 2012

Hello dear readers! I apologize for the lack of posts recently. Work's been eating up my blogging time. OTL  Despite my crazy weekdays, I still had energy to attend ManikaManila's annual Halloween Meet! It was held in Camelot Hotel, Quezon City.

Blair and Miette in their costumes made by Madz of Dear Resin <3

Both old and new members were in attendance. The number of attendees wasn't as big as last year's Halloween Meet, but the costumes were more amazing this time around! Last year, Blair went as Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. This year, Blair and Miette went as Totoro and Mei from Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro.

Hee~ <3

As much as I love my girls' costumes, they didn't hold a candle against all the awesome costumes made by my fellow members. I feel really honored to be a part of such a talented community. It only inspires me to do better!

To see what I'm talking about, click on "Continue reading"!

ManikaManila Tiangge 2012

Hello dear readers! It's been a crazy week. I'm sorry I've neglected my regular blog posting! I usually spend my free time queuing blog posts, but last week I've been busy preparing for ManikaManila's Tiangge. The event was held last Saturday, October 20, at Greenbelt Parkplace in Legazpi Village, Makati City.

My booth named Chocochipmunk. I still have leftovers, which I'll be selling online soon! :D

Tiangge is Filipino for "bazaar", which was exactly what the event was all about. Some of our members (including me!) put up booths and sold both handmade and pre-loved items. There were items that were raffled as well! It was one of the most successful events held by ManikaManila so far. Over a hundred people attended! It was like a mini Dollism! How awesome is that?

Violet, Miette and Blair - my pretty models

This was my first time being an entrepreneur. It was scary but exciting at the same time. I'm just glad my booth was quite a success. Yay money, LOL! I'll probably use the money I earned to open a dolly bank account. *u*

Anyway, click on Continue Reading for the rest of my report!

Hong Kong Dollism Plus 7: Day 2

To continue with my Dollism Plus 7 report, here's my Day 2 post! For my Day 1 photos, click here.

The second day of Dollism was pretty much the same as the first. Most of the booths and displays from Day 1 were still present on Day 2, but there were several new ones that replaced the shops that were gone.

Fortunately, I had more time to actually shop this time around since I already took photos of most of the booths and displays present in the con. I finally managed to find new pretty things for Blair that day! I was so worried she'd end up not getting anything new because there weren't a lot of things for sale that fit Minifees.

In case you Minifee owners didn't know yet, the girls can fit most YOSD clothes! The more fitted clothes would be trickier, especially for the boys. If your girl has either the cutie or the small bust, you're in luck. Blair has the small bust and I was able to get her three YOSD outfits. :D

Anyway, there's more photos under the cut!

WARNING: THIS POST IS IMAGE-HEAVY. 

Hong Kong Dollism Plus 7: Day 1

So here it is: my Dollism Plus 7 Day 1 post! To say that the event was overwhelming is an understatement. I never thought I'd get to see this many BJDs and owners in one place! It's an experience I won't forget. ♥

There were a lot of BJD clothes and accessories shops in attendance, the biggest of which were Crobidoll, Lati Doll, Switch, Peak's Woods, Dollheart, Leeke World, Blue Fairy, and Nine9Style. Other notable brands were Spirit Doll, Angell-Studio, Coco Tribe, Popodoll, Ringdoll, DikaDoll, Dollfie World, Dollzone, Doll Leaves, and Ruby Red Galleria.

Everywhere I looked, there was a ton of beautiful mori outfits and accessories, which I both loved and hated. I wanted so many things, but most of them were not in Blair's size or were not within my budget! x_x

There were also gorgeous displays in the con! Kudos to all the people behind these beautiful booths! It must have taken lots of effort to pose the dolls and create the costumes and sets.

I planned on taking note of the shop names so that I could label my photos appropriately, but like I said, I got overwhelmed. I failed as a blogger, haha! Hopefully the sheer amount of photos will more than make up for my failure.

WARNING: THIS POST IS IMAGE-HEAVY. 

A Very Cozy Mini-Meet Down South

What did some of us ManikaManila southerners do on a national holiday? Why, we bonded through foodtripping and dollygushing, of course! ^o^/

Attendees: Kuri's Lumie and Ichigo, my own Miette and Blair, Nick's Christopher, and Kanis's Josh.

We went to Akihabara Café, a cozy and quaint anime-themed restaurant. It wasn't a busy day for that restaurant, so we had it all to ourselves! Perfect for squeeing and laughing our butts off without worrying about disturbing other people. Thank you, Kuri, for your Pinoy Henyo app! XD

ManikaManila's Sun-Kissed Summer Meet!

Blair, Miette and I attended ManikaManila's Summer meet last Saturday. It was held in Constantine Place in BF Resort Village, Las Piñas. We had the place reserved, so we had the entire location by ourselves. It was nice to be in a meet in a more private setting. Even if there weren't as many attendees compared to previous meets, it was just as fun. :)

I took lots of photos again, so I hope you enjoy the spam!

ManikaManila at Ozine Fest 2012

The lovely people of ManikaManila attended this year's Ozine Fest held in SM Megamall last April 13-15. We had a doll display there. I only attended on the 14th (Saturday). Even though the place was extremely crowded and there were random people trying to poke our dolls (nooo!), it was a fun-filled day. Read on after the jump for the rest of the photos. :D

Incomplete group shot. There were too many people, so I couldn't get a decent shot. ; 3;

Blair went full-on mori girl for the con!

ManikaManila's Official Website + Ozine Fest 2012

This week, ManikaManila launched it's new official website! The community has been (and will still be) using Livejournal as its main operations base, but the new site offers a lot of cool features that enhance the community experience for both old and new members. It also has useful guides for those who are planning to enter the BJD hobby.

This awesome website was made by the ever-so-talented Nix!

These guides are helpful to both old and new hobbyists. I learned lots of new things while reading them.

I love this section! It's great to have just one place for all the pretty photos. :3

My favorite part: the census! I love the way it's designed. Beautiful and functional. ♥♥♥

I can't ask for more from this website, and the community, for that matter. I've always been proud to be a member of ManikaManila, and this site made that pride even stronger. Wooh! :D

Speaking of community pride, ManikaManila will be having a display at Ozine Fest 2012 starting today (April 13) until Sunday (April 15) at SM Megamall Mega Trade Halls 1 & 2. Some of the members will be there and I'll be there on Saturday, so if you see us, don't be shy and say hi!

Noriter Mini-Meet!

Last Saturday, I met up with some friends from ManikaManila for a mini-meet at Café Noriter in Taft. We talked about dolls, work, life and lulz! Fun times. :) It's too bad I wasn't able to bring a camera (no food shots, boo!), but Nix and Mel allowed me to post and edit some of theirs for this blog. Thanks guys!

Blair loves her new bunnies. And Little Rose. :3

More photos under the cut!

Red Velvet Valentine Meet

Last Saturday, Blair and I attended ManikaManila's Red Velvet Valentine Meet. It was held in a darling little restaurant called Stacy's. It was a long drive up North, but the people, place and food was worth the trip!

Photo courtesy of Nix

The meet's theme was simple: just wear RED! I got a little worried about Blair's outfit since she doesn't have that much red clothes. I ended up sewing red stockings and making a cute red hat for her. Red is not her color, but it still suits her personality. ^_^

The place was really pretty and photogenic. There were lots of cute odds and ends around the area and it had a little faux-garden inside that was perfect for dolly photoshoots! The food was delicious and reasonably-priced, and the service was good as well. I recommend going there if you have the chance!

I was able to take lots of photos. Enjoy checking out the picspam (all 80+ of them) under the cut! :D

ManikaManila's New Year Not-so-Mini Meet

Last January 14, the folks of ManikaManila held the first meet of the year at Pancake House in Bonifacio High Street. It was supposed to be a mini-meet to welcome a few new members, but there were around 30 people in attendance! Even if it was packed and the air-conditioning wasn't working properly, it was still great to meet new people and catch-up with friends.

Here are some photos I took during the meet! I wasn't able to take lots of photos because my old (but trusty) Canon 30D was too tiring to carry around the crowded place.

I've only been an active member of MM for a year, but I've made friends with lots of cool and talented people. I'm definitely looking forward to more meets and more new friends!